Perhaps you’re a seasoned home buyer and can walk through the door, look past the decor and think: this house has potential.
But not everyone has your vision. Potential means work to do, and that can be enough to put any buyer off. If you need to sell your house fast – or even if you don’t – you have to eliminate the potential and make your home move-in ready.
Here are our top tips on how not to sell your home. Follow them at your peril.
- Cover it up
Stick some heavy drapes in your window to conceal that dreamy view. Position a big armchair in front of your period fireplace and ignore the natural focal point of your living room.
- Buyers love pets
Leave out the litter tray so everyone knows you’ve got a cat and make sure your pets are running around your home while you’re showing it off. Better yet, get them to pose for your non-professional photographs before you’ve even gotten a viewing.
- Make a pile
People love clutter, so leave it out for everyone to try and see past. Or you could try removing everything from the walls and shelves for a minimal, empty look.
- Just my taste
Leave the stained, threadbare carpet for the new owners to replace and don’t strip down outdated wallpaper or repaint chipped woodwork.
- What outside?
Ignore your garden. Don’t sweep up fallen leaves or mow your lawn and forget about de-heading those rose bushes. Leave full rubbish bins outside the front of your house.
- Cram it full
Make sure you store all the stuff you’re taking with you to your new house in the garage, so you’re ready to move. Pack it in there, so buyers can’t see that two cars would fit inside.
- Mask the smell
Stick air fresheners or incense in every room to cover up pet smells or smoke odours instead of cleaning the carpet and airing out your rooms.
- Play the game
Make buyers play the ‘guess what this room is’ game. Put a desk, chair, spare bed, the washing, the hoover and your golf clubs in the third bedroom and make sure it’s hard to open the door.
- Forget first impressions
Decided you want to sell? Put your home online before it’s ready. Don’t worry about the bad photographs, messy rooms and peeling front door. It’s not like most of your viewings will come in the first week or so.
- Do it alone
Finally, sell the house yourself. Take photos with your smartphone, list your property in the local paper and cross your fingers.
Will making all these changes guarantee a fast house sale? Of course not. But if your home stands out from the rest as the one that was well-looked after, clean and ready to move into, then you will sell your house fast – and probably for more money.
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